Inside <arpa/inet.h>, there are two functions to convert host byte order to network byte order. Why are there two options? I understand that htons() is used for port address related to IPv4 and IPv6, but what use does htonl() serve?

  • Cofeiini
    2·
    6 hours ago

    I don’t usually use networking in C or C++, so I can’t say for sure. But I did I find this quote that might explain it:

    The reasons for having both 16 and 32 bit functions is that IP and TCP headers use a mix of 16-bit fields like port numbers along with 32-bit IPv4 addresses.